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Heating, cooling and ceiling fans settings??

We recently moved from Michigan to North Carolina and purchased a 3,000 square foot 2 story house that sits on a slab. The house has 2 separate furnaces for each floor which are located in the attic. The bedrooms are on the second floor. The air ducts are located in the ceiling and each room has ceiling fans. I'm confused on how to heat and cool the house properly combining the ceiling fans with the furnace. We keep the thermostats at 67 degrees in the winter and around 76 degrees in the summer. Are these settings appropriate? Since the air ducts are in the ceiling...which direction should the ceiling fan blades rotate for each season. Should both furnaces be set at exactly the same temperature even though we spend more time on the first floor? Thank you!

BV002753

02:23PM | 12/09/13

Hi there,
Here's a great video and article on proper ceiling fan direction for the seasons of the year.

The thermostat settings depend on your comfort level, 67 h and 76 c is not a bad place to start.
Ceiling fans are very beneficial in the summer, with the fan moving are upward ( blowing in the direction of the ceiling) fans in the heating season can be a problem.you want the fan to move air down toward the floor; however, if you are in medium to hi speed the air will feel cool and this could be a comfort issue for some.
You will see different options on air flow direction; however, I recommend the above info.
In the winter you could try setting the upstairs thermostat 2 degrees lower then the down stairs, this is due to heat rising from the downstairs through the house and will heat the upstairs to a small degree, in reverse cool air will travel down.
If you have a problem with not enough heat making it to the floor you can have the stamped supply grills replaced in the ceiling with 100 m adjustable louver grills. These are designed to move air up to 17 feet compared to 6' to 8 ' standard steamed grill.